Medina gets a new 520 Bridge, but Kenmore may build it

Old industrial site proposed for building new span

BY SCOTT GUTIERREZ, SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF

Updated 11:25 am, Monday, November 28, 2011

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This is the section of Pioneer Towing company's land that might be used as a staging point for pre-fabricating parts for the new 520 bridge across Lake Washington. This land neighbors a concrete factory, reducing construction costs by not having to truck in concrete from elsewhere. At the Kenmore Industrial Plant in Kenmore Washington on Nov. 18, 2011.

This is the section of Pioneer Towing company's land that might be used as a staging point for pre-fabricating parts for the new 520 bridge across Lake Washington. This land neighbors a concrete factory,

If Pioneer Towing's land is selected as a pre-fabrication site for the construction of the new 520 bridge, concrete from this CalPortland mix factory would be used, cutting production costs from not having to ship in cement in from elsewhere. At the Kenmore Industrial Plant in Kenmore Washington on Nov. 18, 2011.

If Pioneer Towing's land is selected as a pre-fabrication site for the construction of the new 520 bridge, concrete from this CalPortland mix factory would be used, cutting production costs from not having to

Kiewit-General-Manson's proposed use of Pioneer Towing's property for construction of the state Route 520 Bridge.

Kiewit-General-Manson's proposed use of Pioneer Towing's property for construction of the state Route 520 Bridge.

Photo: Courtesy Of The Washington State Dept. Of Transportation

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Photo: Courtesy Of The Washington State Department Of Transportation

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Photo: Courtest Of The Washington State Department Of Transportation

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Gary Sergeant, President of Pioneer Towing explains how he hopes his company's land can be used as a staging point for construction on the new 520 bridge across Lake Washington, at his office located at the Kenmore Industrial Plant in Kenmore Washington on Nov. 18, 2011.

Gary Sergeant, President of Pioneer Towing explains how he hopes his company's land can be used as a staging point for construction on the new 520 bridge across Lake Washington, at his office located at the

A mostly idle industrial park in Kenmore was supposed to become lakefront condominiums, but now it's likely to be used to build much of the new state Route 520 floating bridge instead.

For years, the city has talked about developing the Kenmore Industrial Park on the north Lake Washington shoreline into LakePointe, a scenic mix of condos, apartments, office, retail and park space. But the slow economy scuttled those plans.

Now, the joint-venture selected to build the 520 bridge, Kiewit-General-Manson, wants to lease 14 acres at the park to prefabricate the bridge's roadway deck and giant anchors.

The site is ideal, a state transportation official said, because it has a wharf and navigation channel from which the contractor could conveniently barge sections of the bridge to the main construction zone between Medina and Montlake – a mere six miles away.

"It's a unique site on the lake. It's probably the only site left that has a large industrial complex with barge access," said John White, the Transportation Department's director of the 520 Bridge floating and landing project.

The only other viable options were at the Ports of Tacoma and Olympia. Having less distance to haul the materials would help keep the project on schedule and minimize fuel costs, he said.

But the plan rankles some Kenmore residents, who have waited for more than a decade to see the 45-acre industrial park cleaned up and turned into something else.

The property has been under a consent decree with the state Department of Ecology since 2001 due to contaminated soil. Just north of the mouth of the Sammamish River, it sits on top of a landfill that was used for dumping demolished homes and rubble when Interstate 5 was built through Seattle in the late 1950s.

Now that the state wants the property to serve another massive infrastructure project, residents worry nothing will change.

"It is one of the linchpin areas for salmon habitat, eagle habitat and fish spawning," said Pat O'Brien, one of several residents who would like the industrial use to end after the project. "It's at the end of the slough that supplies salmon to Issaquah and all streams on the Sammamish watershed."

Construction on the new floating bridge, which will be wider, taller and sturdier than the existing span, is expected to start next spring. The new bridge will be built just north of the old one, and is expected to open by December 2014.

Kiewit was awarded a $586 million design-build contract to build the bridge, as part of a larger $4.6 billion 520 expansion from Seattle to Redmond.

The Kenmore project could be an economic boost to the suburb of 21,000, with the contractor estimating it will hire as many as 50 union workers at the height of construction. It estimates it will spend as much as $25 million on wages, supplies and subcontractors, according to a memo submitted to the city.

History

The Kenmore industrial site is at 6423 N.E. 175th S., just southwest of Bothell Way and 68th Avenue. It has storage buildings, construction equipment and copses of tall grass, blackberry brambles and trees. Log Boom Park, Kenmore Air Harbor's seaplane marina and a golf course are nearby.

A concrete-mix plant is on separate property right next door and could provide concrete for bridge construction, said Gary Sergeant, president of Pioneer Towing Company, a pre-mix and barging operation that has owned the site for 60 years. The location would significantly reduce the need for heavy trucks to haul materials.

Since the mid-1970s, the site has been leased to various companies for a number of manufacturing purposes, including barging, pier and dock construction, and sand and gravel storage -- the latter being its main use after the economic slowdown.

Permits for mixed-use development were first issued in 1998. It would have been a phased plan for 1,200 residential units with 650,000 square feet of retail and office space. It would include parking stalls, a marina with 50 boat slips, and opens space with walkways and trails.

The plan has run into a number of obstacles, most recently the economic crash of 2008, Sergeant said.

"I want the development to happen as much as anybody. That is our dream," Sergeant said. "But construction is down, the worst I've ever seen it."

WSDOT's contractor wants to lease the property until 2015, and start work on the property in January, which gives Sergeant an ability to keep the property "intact" while there are no interested developers, he said.

"It's a good thing for Kenmore, it's a good thing for the site, and it's a good thing for citizens of the state because they'll get a bridge for a little bit cheaper than they would have otherwise," he said.

A WSDOT spokeswoman said the contract includes a $12 million allowance to lease two prefabrication sites, the second one in Tacoma. Sergeant declined to say how much he was offered.

Residents would likely see an average of one barge per day at the site during the three-year period, with no more than three per day, WSDOT estimates. That would be less than the four or five barges per day in 2007 when other companies were there, Sergeant said.

The property would be cleaned up prior to the project, and new drainage systems and utility lines would be built. Groundwater would be monitored, he said.

The property would be regraded, he said, but vegetation along the shoreline would be protected. Kiewit-General-Manson would build a temporary casting bay, about 20,000 square feet, with a partial roof.

The plan would comply with the environmental consent decree, Sergeant said.

Concerns

For the last few weeks, a small group of residents has been meeting at local Tully's over its concerns. They don't oppose the state's project, per se, but they want some baseline testing of soils and groundwater to know what's there before construction starts.

They'd like closer monitoring by the state Ecology Department and some assurances the state will do something to improve the property.

According to the consent degree, the landfill contains hazardous substances such as lead, arsenic, and possibly petroleum hydrocarbons that were above state clean-up standards.

"The bottom line to me is the city of Kenmore should be watching out for its citizens, whose kids all swim on the piers and go off the water slides at the marina," said Janet Hays, a retired King County employee who can see the property from her condo. "It's a big part of our city, and a big part of our shoreline."

White, the project manager, said the state's contract set sustainability goals and emphasized using existing industrial or brownfield sites to avoid causing new environmental damage.

"Using that site is really attractive from that sustainability perspective," White said.

"At the end of the day, they'll probably leave the site in better condition than when they found it."

Permits

The city of Kenmore now is reviewing permit applications required for the plan. In addition, the city must complete a review with the Ecology Department to determine whether it would cause a significant environmental impact.

Residents have until December 5 to submit comments to the city on the permit applications.

"We'll look at all these comments, and maybe there will be something in the comments we haven't thought of and would be a legitimate question that we're responsible for," said City Manager Fred Stouder, who has met with residents personally.

More information is available at the city's Website and through WSDOT.

Back when the mixed-use development plan was hatched and the economy wasn't a factor, it was first delayed by a lengthy legal dispute over traffic improvements needed on Northeast 175th Street.

There would be other significant costs to consider, too. The Ecology Department requires the landfill to be capped in a concrete shell before any commercial development can take place, and that there be a plan to manage gases from decomposition.

Stouder said he appreciates the frustration that some residents feel. But the property is privately owned, which limits what the city can do.

"Generally, it's been spoken about as the last undeveloped, or underdeveloped site on Lake Washington," Stouder said. "It's clearly a prime opportunity for whatever. However, there are those that say, that the reality might be, even in economic times before the recession, was it really feasible?"

520 burden

In a separate $367 million project, WSDOT is building a massive casting facility in Aberdeen in Grays Harbor to construct the bridge's giant concrete pontoons. Some of the pontoons will be as long as football fields, standing 30 feet high and weighing 12,000 tons – more than twice as heavy as the state's largest ferry.

That project is expected to create 300 jobs.

But in Kenmore, the state's proposal also reminds residents of how much the 520 project will affect their daily lives. When tolling starts on the current 520 span next month to help pay for the replacement, traffic is expected to get worse on state Route 522 – also Bothell Way Northeast, the city's main street – as some of the 115,000 daily drivers who use the bridge detour around Lake Washington to avoid paying.

"We're fine being an environmental player and also being a regional player and helping people who commute over the 520 Bridge," Stouder said.

But since Kenmore has been asked to take on 520 construction, some suggest the city try to use that as leverage to get more highway money toward widening and improving the city's main street, he said.